Transit Tax Crashes
Planners Support Regional Approach
Posted: May 23, 2012 at 12:54 a.m.
Cornelia Hager votes Tuesday at Wiggins United Methodist Church in Fayetteville. Hager scheduled Ozark Regional Transit to take her to the church so she could vote in Tuesday’s primary election.
Washington County voters Tuesday soundly rejected a quarter-cent sales tax for public transit.
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Anything Jerry Van Hoose is supporting should be rejected. Remember what he did to Springdale.
Posted by: brasnomell
May 23, 2012 at 6:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Maybe if Ozark Transit had actually been a useful service instead of denying rides to people and being insulting and rude to the people that use that service the people of washington county would have passed this tax
Posted by: ljzgra
May 23, 2012 at 7:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Rejecting the transit initiative may have been penny-wise but it was pound-foolish. Compared to the $400 million dollar road tax proposed by the Regional Mobility Authority, $7 million for transit is a drop in the bucket.
Building transit is a much more fiscally conservative approach than building more roads. According to a recent study of NWA by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, we are now spending more on transportation (29%) than we are on housing (26%). With housing and transportation expenses combined eating up more than 55% of the average household budget, families are hurting which in turn is squeezing revenue out of our local economy.
People are spending almost a third of their income (29%) just to get to work and around town! Wouldn't it be nice to have the option of choosing the $30 monthly bus pass instead and keeping the rest of your hard earned money for groceries, home repairs, or the kids tuition?
For every dollar spent on gas, 97 cents leaves our local economy. When gas hits $4 a gallon, regional spending on fuel is estimated to be $500 million. We might as well just build a giant funnel and pour $485 million dollars out of our community.
Poor transportation planning and short-sighted policies are hurting our region and our wallets. They are trapping people in poverty and the endless cycle of needing a job to buy and maintain a car and needing a reliable car to have a job. We may have lost this battle, but I’m committed to keep fighting for better transit, sidewalks, trails, and smart planning strategies.
Sarah Marsh
Candidate for Fayetteville City Council, Ward 1, Position 2
Posted by: SarahMarsh
May 23, 2012 at 9:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Well said, SarahMarsh! I believe one thing that keeps holding Arkansas back on public transportation is a prevailing snobbish attitude among the well-to-do here that only "those people" use public transportation. In other areas of the country, taking a TAXI is considered a luxury. Here, a person who has to resort to using one is considered low class.
So much of a person's money could be put to better use if they were able to use public transportation to get to work most days, and only drove when they had appointments or errands that made it impractical. I have seen people iun dire straits when gas was nearly four dollars a gallon, the only job they could find was a long drive, and the pay was low. The kind of people who voted this down would never miss a quarter of a cent. So short sighted.
Posted by: inquire
May 23, 2012 at 10:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
the only thing short sighted is approving a tax that will only benefit a VERY small minority. we aren't big enough of a city for a useful public transit system that will benefit the majority. You probably thought that the condo buildings on dickson were a good idea too, as they sit basically useless.
Posted by: Deezee40
May 23, 2012 at 1:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
This wasn't just about one city. I never go up to Springdale anymore because I'm afraid of 540. It would expand my horizons if there was a bus between those two cities.
It looks like people in the smaller towns helped defeat this tax because they thought they would not benefit from an expanded bus system. I don't know if it would or not because I never saw any info about proposed bus routes. Maybe Lowell and Farmington and Elkins and Greenland and West Fork were included in the plan--who knows?
Posted by: Coralie
May 23, 2012 at 1:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Another piece of spin that helped defeat this proposal was the idea that the OTS people were trying to deceive us--but as I understand it, the feds were in the middle of changing their minds, it wasn't a matter of any deliberate deception locally.
It was evident that the movers and shakers and local media didn't want this plan.
Who or what is the Regional Mobility Authority?
Posted by: Coralie
May 23, 2012 at 1:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
It wont benefit the majority. The majority doesnt want tax dollars going here. This area NWA does not have a need for this yet.
Posted by: Deezee40
May 23, 2012 at 2:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I didn't realize I-540 was the only road connecting Springdale and Fayetteville. Did Hwys 71B, 112, and 265 disappear or something?
Posted by: JB30
May 23, 2012 at 2:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Absolutely arrogant response by the voters who don't want to know about the low income populace. I thought this was the Bible belt. SHAME!
Posted by: naaaaaaaaaaaa
May 23, 2012 at 4:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JB30, let's just say that at 82 I try to avoid heavy traffic and unfamiliar territory.
Dezee says transit won't benefit the majority. Who are the majority? According to census figures, the median income in Northwest Arkansas is about $20,000/yr for women and $27,000 for men. Then with the average cost for owning and maintaining a car $5000/yr, that's a big chunk of people's income.
You may have seen higher figures for the AVERAGE but the median is the person right in the middle. That means half the people earn more and half earn less.
The average can be very deceptive. If you average together someone earning $1 million and 9 people earning $10,000, their average income is $109,000. Their median income is $10,000.
Posted by: Coralie
May 23, 2012 at 4:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
>>looks like people in the smaller towns helped defeat this tax because they thought they would not benefit from an expanded bus system. I don't know if it would or not because I never saw any info about proposed bus routes.<
.
For that lack of information to smaller cities and towns you can thank our local Stephens-Hussman MONOPOLY paper for that. TV news has never presented real information since over half of it is entertainment and advertisements.
.
Hussman papers have a long history of selective news views. Sorry to see this once-local paper be brought down to that level.
.
Posted by: cdawg
May 23, 2012 at 4:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Dezee says "This area NWA does not have a need for this yet. "
I did some searching a while back and found that Anchorage Alaska covers almost as much area as Northwest Arkansas. The cities in Alaska can be pretty big. Anchorage currently has a population of 291, 826., quite a bit fewer than NWA.
"Sanctioned by local voters in 1973, Anchorage's Public Transportation People Mover bus system began operation on July 1, 1974, carrying 39,505 passengers in the first month of service. In 2008, it set a new annual record of 4,220,677 trips, with an average weekday ridership of 14,297. "
Let's compare with NWA:
"The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area (often referred to as Northwest Arkansas) as defined by the United States Census Bureau is a four-county area including three Arkansas counties and one Missouri county. The MSA is anchored by the Arkansas cities of Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville — the state's third, fourth, eighth, and 11th largest cities, respectively....The US Census estimated the population of the MSA to be 464,623 in 2009." That's almost half a million.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fayettev...
Posted by: Coralie
May 23, 2012 at 5:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I would like more information about what the NWA Regional Mobility Authority has in mind for this region that is projected to grow to a million by 2050.
Are they considering light rail?
Are they planning more east-west conduits?
What's the plan?
Oh well, we can just wait until 2050 when gas is $25/gal. if there even is any and then figure it all out.
Posted by: Coralie
May 23, 2012 at 5:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
My husband and I grew up in Springdale and moved to Fort Smith in 1974. Since then, the traffic in NWA has become a nightmare. We dread having to go there to see relatives and always take HWY 71, Hwy 16, and Crossover Road to end up in the old Springdale where we are headed. 540 is a death trap dominated by speeders and has proven to be far more dangerous than 71.
When we are up there, we see the horrible congestion of on and off ramps backed up to kingdom come, far worse than anything in Fort Smith. We now live out a ways from Fort Smith, but when we are there, we see people using the bus system they finally started a few years ago. Many of the users look like the unfortunate, but some are old, probably too old to drive safely any longer.
How can it not benefit a community to have a way for these people to get to jobs, medical appointments, shopping centers?
Those who can't see a need for public transportation live in a very insulated and privileged world. You need to think about someone besides yourself. Someday even you could be alone, old, and unable to drive.Twenty five cents tax on a hundred dollars. Quite a bargain to do real good in the community. I've paid a lot more in taxes and gotten less for it.
Posted by: inquire
May 23, 2012 at 9:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Public transportation is necessary in the NWA region. The problem lies in the lack of knowledge in how it works. Bus stops, schedules and rates need to made readily available. Putting in bus stops, with benches and signs, gives people a starting point. Add a schedule slot or posted schedule, people will know when to meet the bus. I see busses all over the place, but rarely see a place to get on. How much will it cost me? Send a letter to the paper to publish stating how to get on board with public trasportation. I was born in a big city where bussing was a way of life, but the info was readily available. NWA has been my home for 20 years. If you want people to support public transit, get the info out. Asking people to pay for that occasional bus they see ain't gonna cut it.
Posted by: Buddafly
May 23, 2012 at 10:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
>>If you want people to support public transit, get the info out. Asking people to pay for that occasional bus they see ain't gonna cut it>
Great idea Buddafly. However, as mentioned above the local paper monopoly refuses to do any community bulletins to help keep people informed.
Here's a starting point, the Ozark Regional Transit webpage. Click on schedules and maps button:
http://www.ozark.org/
Posted by: cdawg
May 24, 2012 at 12:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I checked out this link out of curiosity, as I don't live there to use the transit. I visited their Twitter link and learned that ridership in December was 25,571. In an August tweet, they mentioned two routes with buses so full they had passengers standing. It would seem that NWA has plenty of need for public transit.
Posted by: inquire
May 24, 2012 at 1:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Coralie said "I never go up to Springdale anymore because I'm afraid of 540. It would expand my horizons if there was a bus between those two cities."
Please allow me to spend a few more of my hard earned dollars so that you can "expand your horizons" and visit the cultural center that is Springdale, Ar.
I drive 540 every day between Springdale and Bentonville. There are thousands of cars making that same trek. I fail to see this tax was going to limit congestion, when it doesn't provide an effective alternative. If they want to build something useful, they should consider a "park and ride" system that goes from large lots in Fayetteville to Springdale (to the Tyson offices), to Lowell (to the JB Hunt offices) and to Bentonville to the Home Office. The buses could run hourly and save a lot of congestion. I would suspect that the ridership would be enough that it would fund some of the inner city routes in Sprindale and Fayetteville for those who require that type of public transit.
At the end of the day, a sales tax is a consumption tax and I'm guessing that the occupants of the cars driving up and down 540 every day are the greatest consumers in the area. If you want a tax plan to work, the people who will ultimately pay the most should see some personal benefit.
Posted by: superdave10
May 24, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Agree with Sarah Marsh, Coralie, and inquire.
So does James Taylor:
Chorus:
"Damn this traffic jam
How I hate to be late
It hurts my motor to go so slow
Damn this traffic jam
Time I get home my supper'll be cold
Damn this traffic jam
Well I left my job about 5 o'clock
It took fifteen minutes go three blocks
Just in time to stand in line
With a freeway looking like a parking lot
- Chorus -
Now I almost had a heart attack
Looking in my rear view mirror
I saw myself the next car back
Looking in the rear view mirror
'Bout to have a heart attack
I said
- Chorus -
Now when I die I don't want no coffin
I thought about it all too often
Just strap me in behind the wheel
And bury me with my automobile
- Chorus -
Damn...
Now I used to think that I was cool
Running around on fossil fuel
Until I saw what I was doing
Was driving down the road to ruin
Posted by: SPA
May 24, 2012 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
"Harp's - Employee Owned!" That's what they used to advertise. Just some other words for socialism, aren't they?
And now Harp's is moving off the square in Bentonville, just so it can take advantage of the four-lane traffic on 71B that's not being ameliorated because we've no public transit. . . . Gerald is rolling over in his cash-lined grave.
Posted by: GenBuckTurgidson
May 24, 2012 at 9:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Mike Malone and Jeff Hawkins have a lot of explainin' to do about their hatchet job on the transit program.
As executive director of the NW Ark. Council, Mike's campaign to kill transit doesn't square with the mission of his organization when he lied repeatedly, attacking Ozark Regional Transit.
This is from the NWA Council website:
"The NW Arkansas Council is a private sector-led community development organization dedicated to improving the social and economic well being of our citizens. With the help of a large number of community organizations, and community leaders, we’re taking proactive measures to help:
Improve our transportation system...
...Create, expand and attract new investment to expand and diversify job opportunities."
So much for all the jobs that would be directly created by commuter transit and the many more that would be created indirectly.
Transit jobs are permanent, green jobs that help reduce pollution and reflect the sustainability that the NWA Council claims as another of its goals.
Is it the NWA Council's position that sustainable transportation is not the kind of sustainability they want here?
Then there's Mr. Jeff Hawkins, who has a conflict of interest as director of two organizations that should be at least at arm's length: the NW Arkansas Regional Mobility Authority and the NW Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. That didn't stop him from making similar unfounded and mendacious personal attacks on O.R.T.'s leaders.
We need to pay special attention to Mr. Hawkins' quote in the NWA Times on May 23 where he stated that the $7.7 million that would be raised by the defeated sales tax was "too much." As the person whose two jobs it is to promote highways and provide sound, science-based transportation planning technical assistance, it's time for you to tell the public just how much you think is "enough" to fund and operate a commuter transit system.
Mike Malone and Jeff Hawkins owe a debt to the people of northwest Arkansas for having played leading roles in torpedoing the work of so many committed volunteers who worked so hard to provide leadership in this vital economic development and transportation program. Malone and Hawkins abdicated as long as they could, and when they saw someone was doing what they would not do, they personally maligned and misrepresented the work they did. Is this what these two gentlemen get paid to do?
All we've heard from the Council, the Regional Mobility Authority and the Regional Planning Commission is to go away and come back another day, after the highways have been built and the concrete dreams have been fulfilled. Maybe then they'll toss a few dollars our direction.
We need leadership not lip service. We're waiting to hear your plan, Mike and Jeff.
Posted by: FreeGlenCanyon
May 25, 2012 at 7:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Superdave says "Please allow me to spend a few more of my hard earned dollars so that you can "expand your horizons" and visit the cultural center that is Springdale, Ar."
Well, you've already allowed me to spend some hard-earned dollars subsidizing your roads, gasoline prices, traffic accidents, and income tax deductions for use of your car.
I hope you don't drive a gas-guzzling SUV or light truck, which cause more accidents than the smaller cars.
Posted by: Coralie
May 29, 2012 at 12:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Here's some info about oil subsidies:
http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-sub...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/0...
***
Of course buses also use roads and gasoline, but they carry more riders per gallon. And when policy makers go to build and expand roads, they are doing it for cars, not buses.
Actually, light rail would make more sense to go up and down between Bella Vista and Fort Smith.
***
As for Springdale being a cultural center, it does have a few opportunities. Besides more options with doctors and dentists, I might like to take advantage of the Arts Center of the Ozarks or the Shiloh Museum.
Posted by: Coralie
May 29, 2012 at 5:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
On our block there were 6 or 7 signs in favor of the transit tax, and I notice that nobody has taken theirs down yet. Not sure what that indicates.
Posted by: Coralie
June 3, 2012 at 3:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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